Leading Away the Passover Lamb

Mark 14:37, 41, And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?" And he came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?"

It had begun. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, surround by those who claimed to love Him best and who had spent the better part of three years with Him as their beloved Teacher and Leader, even here with them the Savior was being separated as the lamb for the sacrifice. The desertion, the isolation from God and men, began not on the cross but in the garden. None of His best friends could keep Christ company as He agonized in prayer. He “wrestled lone with fears. E’en that disciple whom He loves heeds not his Master’s grief and tears.” The Lamb for the Passover was being carried away from the rest of the flock that should have been chosen instead; this One, this chosen holocaust, would die alone, allowing the rest to live.

How this should wound our hearts for do we not so fear being alone? We humans were made for each other, for community. How could Christ have endured this utter loneliness, especially in death? Oh, how our hearts should be filled with teary gratefulness that He endured rending of fellowship with God and men so that we can be brought back into true union with our Father and our brothers and sisters!